


Free me and never let me go

by nevertoolateforicecream



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Aesir Tony, Angst, Asgardian Tony Stark, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Jötunheimr | Jotunheim, M/M, Mage Tony, Odin (Marvel)'s Bad Parenting, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Thor (Marvel) is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:48:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25673821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevertoolateforicecream/pseuds/nevertoolateforicecream
Summary: Tony Stark isn't as human as we were led to believe.When Mjolnir shows up in New Mexico it's time for Tony to face his past.. and maybe more?featuring technopath god Tony, a family of bots and AIs, two godly brothers and a long overdue frostiron love story <3
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 96
Kudos: 549





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you'll enjoy this story :)

Anton has always been able to connect to his creations. At the beginning, when he still resided in Asgard that meant being able to sense a swords bloodlust or an axes glee when it struck down it’s victim. After his disagreement with Odin and the following exile to Midgard his weapons changed, but their connection to him did not. He was able to sense all of them. At the beginning they had to be even more primitive than on Asgard. The humans were rather underdeveloped for being one of the nine realms.  


But then, oh then, it got fun. From the Bullet hitting its target in World War 2 when he was known as „Howard“ to the Missiles that destroyed entire camps in his time as Tony Stark. But it wasn’t only his weapons, the first time DUM-E came online Tony nearly cried. To be able to actually communicate with them, not just feel their emotions, was incredible. He was so fascinated by this concept that he just had to continue. DUM-E was closely followed by Butterfingers, U and JARVIS. He loved each of his creations like his own children - not that he had any biological ones.  
Anton had to admit that he enjoyed his time on earth immensely. The sheer creativity and desire for change and innovation fueled his creative genius. He came up with even more ideas and plans. He was so happy that he almost forgot about Asgard and why he was on Midgard in the first place. Almost. In the rare instances when he did remember some alcohol and partying helped him forget again.  


Then came Afghanistan. Tony might’ve gone a bit overboard with designing his weapons if they were able to knock out even a god. He had no time to regret past decisions when Yinsen shoved that magnet in his chest and soon everything happened way too fast. He remembered refusing his weapons to his captors, more out of spite than anything. He remembered Yinsen dying, burning their camp down and barely escaping with the suit. Truly one of his better inventions if he said so himself, although it would need a bit of fine-tuning.  
Wandering through the intense heat of the desert sun, Tony wished - not for the first time these past weeks - to have his magic back. When Odin banned him from Asgard he also sealed his magic inside himself. Tony could still feel it pulse deep inside but there was no way to access it, it was utterly frustrating. As god of Creation and Innovation, being able to connect with what he made himself was just natural to him, no magic required. Healing spells or just spelling a cool breeze was another story unfortunately. Tony cursed that he didn’t know where he was or he could’ve told JARVIS about his location. Although Tony hadn’t had the possibility to try yet, he was sure he would be able to communicate with his kids even if he was on another planet. Their bond was pretty strong. Since he had no clue as to his whereabouts though he had to hope someone was looking for him, or that he would just stumble upon the next gas station (as if that's ever gonna happen).  


Rhodey, his favorite human together with Pepper Potts, came to rescue him finally. Back in the States Tony did some research into those terrorists and stumbled upon some interesting detail about his kidnapping. Obadiah set him up. Tony had to say he wasn’t shocked. Hurt, yes sure, he thought they were friends. But not shocked, Obadiah had always been a greedy bastard. He made the decision to shut down the weapons department of Stark Industries. While Tony didn’t particularly care about the underhand weapons deals, since Obadiah had been taken care of (and no one would ever suspect a thing, JARVIS made sure of that), he was still a bit shocked to experience the power of destruction that his weapons could wreak.  
When some guy in a suit approached him, claiming to be from some weird government agency, Tony waved him off. He wasn’t particularly interested in sharing. He also waved of Pepper and Rhodeys attempts at making him talk about Afghanistan and they relented quickly. Tony finally settled back into his usual lifestyle. With the added bonus of tinkering with his suit every free minute he had.  


_Sir, there’s something you should see._  


„Not now, JARVIS.“  


_Sir, I insist._  


The music got quiet as JARVIS turned it down and pulled up a hologram. With an eye-roll Tony reluctantly turned away from his work on one of the armors thruster boots.  


_I’ve been looking into this agency, SHIELD, they’re the ones that approached you after the Afghanistan incident. They just reported some very strange findings to their archives._  


JARVIS’ blue hologram showed some digital documents which Tony promptly opened with a swipe of his hand.  
„This, this can’t be right.“, Tony gasped. A picture of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, stared back at him. „In New Mexico. Why is it here? JARVIS, do we have any recordings of the surrounding area?“  


_No, Sir, this was in the middle of nowhere on a field. Even SHIELD doesn’t have any clues yet. They say no one can move it._  


„Check the nearby hospitals for a muscular blonde guy. Must’ve come in around the time this hammer was found. I don’t think Thor would’ve just left it there if he was doing alright. I might’ve only known him as a youngling, but he was extremely fond of that thing.“  


Tony’s thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched „Tonyy!“ coming from upstairs. Sighing he closed the files and made his way out of the workshop. „Update me once you find something!“, he called to JARVIS before he climbed up the stairs. His house in Malibu was truly beautiful, but he still thinks he should’ve added an elevator.  


„Pepper, love of my life, my star and sun, my red-haired beauty. To what do i owe the pleasure?“, Tony grinned. With an exasperated sigh Pepper moved over to him. „You missed two board meetings, Tony. That’s very irresponsible. You should get a bit more serious about leading your company. You’re not 20 anymore, Tony.“ „Pep, you know i’m a busy man. I can’t keep up with everything, that’s why i have you. And you’re doing a great job by the way.“ Pepper handed him a stack of papers instead of answering. „What are those?“, Tony asked. „You’ll have to sign those if you want to keep the company running. They’re for business contracts with Tokyo and Singapore. I looked them over, they seem good to go but if you wanna add anything that can be arranged, just show up to the next board meeting, Tony.“  


As Tony reached out to take the stack of papers he got distracted by his kid’s voice.  
_Sir, I found something. It seems a Thor that fits your description was checked into a hospital in New Mexico just an hour before the first internet post about the hammer was made. Should I arrange a jet for you, Sir?_  


Tony had to stop himself from answering directly. He could hear JARVIS talking in his head, but Pepper couldn’t. They had decided to keep it secret for now. While basic AI weren’t anything new on Midgard they didn’t have anything close to as advanced as JARVIS: Of course he could blame him being a genius for his creation but it’s easier if no one asks in the first place.  


**No, thanks. I think i’ll take the suit for a joyride. That’s been long overdue, don’t you think?**  


_Most certainly, Sir. It seems Mr. Thor is staying with a Team of Scientists. Should I announce our arrival?_  


**No, JARVIS, I think we’re gonna make it a surprise. Also I’m not sure yet if I even want to engage with him. Might be hard to explain why I’m here. After all I don’t think Odin would disclose what actually happened.**  


While Tony could communicate with his bots and JARVIS through some kind of technopathy, he usually just talked out loud into the room. It made him feel slightly less crazy. Obviously with Pepper around that wasn’t an option.  


„Tony? You still there?“, Pepper started waving her hand in front of my face. Tony just realized how the golden light in his living room made her hair look like it’s standing in flames. Pepper looked fiery, the good kind of fiery. Although he wouldn’t want to stand in her way, ever.  


„I’m sorry,“, he apologized, „i must’ve drifted off. Lots of new ideas in my head, you know me.“ Once again it was just easier to not disclose the whole truth.  


She eyed him skeptically. Maybe he wasn’t as inconspicuous as he’d like to think he was. She seemed to shake it off though and added: „Just sign them, Tony.“ With a warm smile she turned around and left, presumably to go to another meeting or something similar. Tony wondered if Pepper ever took a break. He should make her go on vacation the next time he saw her.  


Now that Pepper was gone, Tony started to consider his plan of action on what to do with Thor. They hadn’t met since Tony had to leave Asgard centuries ago. Before that he had been advisor to the king. He often spent his time teaching little Thor about life in court and later on how to woo the ladies.

Although Tony had to admit, he was always a bit more fond of Loki, Thor’s brother. The small black-haired child was full of a thirst for knowledge that could rival Tony’s own. He taught Loki magic, comforted him when he was bullied for being weaker than Thors friends and even took him on diplomatic missions across the realms when he was old enough to understand the subtlety needed in dealing with other cultures. He missed Loki a lot. Not for the first time he wondered how Loki fared. Was he alright? Would he recognize Tony after all this time? Would he be angry? Did he think Tony willingly abandoned him? He hoped not, Loki had always been a bit insecure and lost. Losing a teacher, no, a friend really, can’t have been easy on him. Thor and Loki were the equivalent of in the middle of their Teens when Tony was exiled. Tony had had no means of contacting them without being able to use his magic. Heimdall wouldn’t relay his messages, that would mean betraying his king and Tony knew he wouldn’t do that.  


„Do you think they even want to see me?“, Tony asked in his empty living room. Suddenly everything seemed too wide, too empty, too alone. Tony hurried down to his workshop. His bots made him feel less alone. Like he was still worth something.  


_I think they must be insane if they wouldn’t want to see you, Sir._  


„Hmm, thanks JARVIS, but I’m not too sure. What if Odin said I abandoned them? What if he told them why I was exiled? What if they hate me?“ Tony curled up on the small, dark blue couch he had in his workshop for those night where he was ready to pass out after another engineering binge (which happened rather often). „I.. I don’t want that.“  


He stared at the ceiling, the light of his arc reactor illuminating the workshop. It’s moments like these when Tony felt the most broken, like he didn’t belong anywhere. Not on Asgard where they didn’t want him, not on Midgard, where he was so alone and not even his self-made family could seem to cheer him up. DUM-E was the first to approach his father. He touched his claw to Tony’s head and started making soft beeping sounds to comfort the engineer. Butterfingers and U rolled over as well, cheerily beeping along and juggling the present Pepper handed him some time ago. He hadn’t opened it yet. To be honest, he had completely forgotten it even existed. He reached out to take it. Under the watchful eyes, or rather arms, of his bots he tore the wrapping paper open to reveal a glass box.

Inside was his old arc reactor. The one he had told Pepper to get rid off. It was surrounded by a metal plate reading ‚Proof that Tony Stark has a heart‘. „Oh Pep..“, Tony whispered. Tony wasn’t alone. He had a family. He had Pepper and Rhodey. He even had Happy, the driver turned bodyguard was starting to be one of his closest friends. He had his bots, and he had JARVIS.  


_Ms. Potts is right, Sir. You have a heart. And I’m sure Thor knows that as well._  


**Thank you, J**  


Tony took a deep breath and sat up straight. „Thanks to you guys for being by my side“, he whispered to the bots. DUM-E seemed to want to cuddle closer while Butterfingers and U drove in happy circles around the workshop. Tony watched them with a big smile on his face. He really loved those mechanical kids.  


„Up and at them, J.“ Tony clapped his hands to his knees, then went to the nearest suit. Mark VI was waiting for him. While the Palladium in his first arc reactor would’ve killed a human in the long run, it didn’t bother Tony at all. His Aesir organism could keep up with the poisoning easily. To keep up appearances though he looked for a replacement early enough. The synthesized Vibranium was doing a great job in keeping him going. The suit opened up and Tony stepped inside. It fit perfectly, what else could be expected from the god of creation and innovation. He felt the armor buzzing excitedly at the prospect of flying outside. The mask closed and the HUD popped up.  


_I advise using the southern exit, Sir. We have an estimated travel time of 8.3 minutes._  


„Thanks, J. This is going to be fun!“, Tony grinned and started his thrusters, speeding out of the mansion. He flew a few looping in the air, he couldn’t help it. Flying was very freeing and Tony felt like it swept all his problems away.


	2. The Meeting

The eight minute flight felt like seconds. Tony kept biting his bottom lip, worrying about what was going to happen once he faced his former student again. Thor and Loki had been more than just students though. Tony had felt like an uncle and later on more like a close friend to the two princes. „JARVIS, is this it?“, Tony asked once a lone house came into view.  


_It appears so, Sir._  


Undecided Tony hovered in the air in front of the glass front of the house. The decision on whether to go through with it was taken away from him however, when the glass door slid open and a figure stepped outside. Was it Thor? No, that human’s way smaller than him. A quick google search with the help of the screen in his HUD revealed the human approaching him as Darcy Lewis, an assistant for astrophysicist Jane Foster. She was openly gaping at him. When she seemed to regain her thoughts she quickly tried to cover up her surprise, turned around and screamed: „Jane! Jane, you have to see this!“ Turning back to Tony she whispered: „It’s really you, isn’t it? Are we in trouble? I swear she didn’t want to run him over.“ She had a very apologetic and slightly guilty look on her face and Tony wondered what had happened.

He didn’t get to ask for details though since Jane used that exact moment to stomp outside the house with an annoyed „What is it this time, Darcy?“ on her lips. When she spotted the Iron Man armor in front of her assistant she also seemed to loose control of her jaw muscles. „How..? Iron Man?“, she stuttered. Then her whole demeanor changed and she raised her finger: „You’re not getting all my research.“  


„Ms Foster, I assure you, I do not need nor want your research. I am here because it seems like you found something..or should i say someONE rather interesting?“  


Jane was sure the man (or woman, she didn’t want to assume) behind the armor was raising their eyebrow. Iron Man had become some kind of a myth. There were small snippets of video recording that she had seen but somehow every bit of data that surfaced was deleted almost immediately after it was uploaded. No one knew who it was behind the mask, that didn’t stop people from speculating though. Some said it might’ve been Justin Hammer’s idea but everyone who had one of his products could testify that he wouldn’t have the ability to make something this..elegant and efficient. Some say it’s Tony Stark - slightly more believable if you asked her. A few other speculations she found quite interesting were some guy named Aldrich Killian and even an employee of Stark Industries called Quentin Beck. Whoever it was, they clearly were a genius. With the armor hovering right in front of her she was able to see all of the details worked into the mechanical suit and she was thoroughly impressed.  


She knew who Iron Man was talking about. Of course she did, after all it wasn’t often that they happened to run over a muscular, blond, may-be-a-god. „He’s inside.“, she admitted. Obviously the person behind the armor already knew they were here so what was the point of lying about it. That doesn’t mean she would just let a stranger barge into their house without knowing why. „What do you want with him?“, then another thought struck her: „Do you know something about the Einstein-Rosen bridge?“  


**She must be talking about the Bifrost**  


_Very likely, Sir. Do you intend to tell her the truth?_  


**I’m not sure yet, JARVIS. Maybe it’s better they don’t know. Seems like Thor didn’t spill the tea yet either. Or they might think he’s just talking crazy. ‚Space-Vikings creating magic rainbow bridges to other realms‘ isn’t the most sane sounding thing to humans.**  


_I trust you’ll make the right decision, Sir._  


„I want to talk to your guest, if that’s alright with you, Ms Foster. I would also like some privacy, so you and your group leaving the premises would be greatly appreciated.“ Tony hoped she would just agree to leave, he really didn’t want to argue right now.  


Jane seemed like she wanted to protest and had already taken a step forward when Darcy jumped in: „Sure, Mr Iron Man…Ms Iron Man..? Anyways, we’re just gonna leave now. Erik’s probably at the pub, he’ll want some updates on the new data anyways. Ba-bye!“ She waved her hand and with the other one she dragged a protesting Jane Foster away. „Darcy, we don’t even know what he’s gonna do!“ was the last thing Tony heard before entering the building. He made sure to release a small drone that would keep watch and alert him if anyone was to come back. If he was gonna meet Thor he might as well do it outside of his armor. Taking a deep breath and steeling his resolve, Tony stepped out of the suit and walked further into the house.  
He had to admit it was a lovely place. The color scheme felt warm and homey. There was no sign of Thor yet.  


**J, do you get anything?**  


_Yes, Sir. In fact.._  


A loud thump and the unpleasant sound of glass breaking startled the genius god and made him jump in the air. „What the…“, Tony started. He didn’t have time for any further comments on the audacity of someone scaring him like that before he was enveloped in a rib crushing hug. Once again Tony was thankful for his aesir biology or else this would’ve really hurt. He was still trying to wriggle out of this sudden hug he found himself in when he heard a small sob. That sob turned into full out crying soon enough and Tony felt the back of his Black Sabbath shirt getting wet.

„You.. you’re alive! Anton, you’re alive!“, the voice got interrupted by some hiccuping sobs, „We.. we thought you were d-dead. Loki and I.. we didn’t.. why? Why Anton? Why d-did you leave us?“

There was no one else in this universe with that voice. Hearing Thor, his beloved little Thor, the kid who fought a bilgesnipe cub when he was only 10 just to prove he was brave, cry like that broke Tony’s heart. They didn’t just think he had left them, they thought he had died. They must’ve been devastated. Tony tried to turn around to face Thor, who by now towered over him with his impressive height (no, Tony was not small, thank you very much). His blonde locks fell in wet strands around his face and the watering eyes that looked up to Tony made it seem like he was still just a child.

„It’s..it’s really you! I, no, we missed you, Anton“, Thor sniffed.

Tony couldn’t resist, he grabbed Thors shoulders and pulled him in for a hug. „I missed you too, Thor. Both of you. Believe me when I say I never wanted to leave you. I..there’s been some things that happened.. but.. it doesn’t matter anyways. I’m glad to see you again.“ The engineer felt a hot tear make its way down his cheek. „I really, really missed you guys.“  


After what felt like an eternity but still wasn’t long enough, Thor started shifting in place, gathering himself and loosening his grip on Tony. Thor’s blue eyes caught Tonys brown ones and one thought flashed through Tony’s mind: „You’ve grown so much.“ Tony had to laugh at the absurdity of their situation. Two grown men crying and hugging all because of some separation issues. Apparently Thor had similar thoughts because he joined in. „It’s so good to see you, old friend“, added Thor after calming down enough to maneuver them both onto the velvet red couch.  


_Sir, it seems SHIELD figured out Thor has something to do with mjolnir. They are on their way. Estimated arrival time: 10 minutes._   


„Damn it!“, Tony cursed. **It’s not enough time, I need more time with Thor. Do you think you can stall them, J?**  


_Of course, Sir. I shall stall them as long as I can._   


**Thanks, JARVIS.**   


„What is it?“  


„What?“  


„You just damned something and then had a dreamy look on your face.“  


„It’s n-nothing“, Tony stumbled. Then he realized that he could actually tell Thor about his bots, about JARVIS. With the beginning of a grin forming on his face, he said: „You know what, actually it was something. You remember how i could always feel my creations, even long after i had crafted them?“, he didn’t wait for an answer, „well, turns out, i was able to use some midgardian technology to make them truly sentient. Now i can actually communicate with them, Thor. Can you imagine?! I was talking to one of mine, his name his JARVIS.“ Tony felt a wave of pride and adoration from his AI. „You should totally meet him. I bet you’d get along, he’s just as much of a protective big brother to his siblings as you are.“  


It took a moment for Thor to work through all the information Tony had just given him. A sentient machine, a wonder worthy of a god indeed. He had always admired Antons skills in the forge and he was sure his newer creations would be just as fascinating. „I would love to meet the one you speak so fondly of. I’m sure we have many stories to tell.“

Thor paused for a moment, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Finally, sitting up straight, he inquired: „If you did not want to leave, why did you? Why go to Midgard of all places? Why didn’t you ever try to contact us?“ The god of thunder appeared more agitated with each word. „We waited, for a long time. Waited for some sign of life, for anything to disprove what father had told us, but you were gone. And we accepted it. It took centuries, but we did it. And now you’re.. you’re back and I don’t know if I should be angry at you or incredibly happy. Tell me, Anton, why?“  


Tony didn’t particularly enjoy being put on the spot like that. He knew Thor deserved an explanation, both brothers did. He put a comforting hand on Thors shoulder and readied himself for the inescapable conversation. „I..I didn’t leave, i was banished.“

Tony took a deep breath, holding eye contact with the very attentively listening Thor. „Odin banished me, sealed my magic and sent me to Midgard.“ The words were rushed and far too fast but Thor didn’t seem to mind. His shocked expression did let Tony know that his revelation was quite unexpected though. When Thors eyes changed from shocked surprise to grim determination, Tony knew he was going to ask about the reason behind his banishment. Before Tony was able to come up with some very creative, and probably extremely unbelievable, excuse as to why he wasn’t able to tell Thor more about it, they heard a hard knock on the porch.  


„This is Agent Coulson from SHIELD. Put your arms above your heads and get out of the house, now. You are surrounded. We know you’re in there Iron Man and we also know about your norse friend. Come out now and we won’t have to use less pleasant methods to get you ourselves.“


	3. Home?

_I’m sorry, Sir. I tried to stop them but they seem to have found a way to temporarily kick me out of their networks._

**It’s alright, J. We’ll just have to think of something.**

Suddenly the beautiful house felt more like a prison than a home. While Tony was still pondering about how to get out of this situation, Thor apparently decided the best approach would be to simply walk up to them and explain his authority as god of thunder.

„Now, now, midgardian warriors. There’s no need for taking any action against me and my friend. I am Thor Odinson, god of thunder, if you bow down now I’ll forget this frankly insulting incident.“

The armor, piloted by JARVIS, hurried over to where Thor was standing just seconds ago.

_I thought you might need this suit to deal with our guests, Sir. You should get inside while Mr Odinson is still inadvertently distracting them._

__

Tony stepped into his Iron Man armor and went after Thor to stop him from blabbering about any more information than necessary. The agents had apparently remained on their respective positions and Coulson added in a very unimpressed voice: „Hands above your head, Mr. Odinson. We do not care whether you’re the god of thunder or the king of Wakanda. SHIELD is going to take you in. We have some important questions and would prefer it if you came with us peacefully.“

__

When their gazes shifted to the red and gold armor surfacing behind Thor, Tony had an idea. He held up his hands as if surrendering and took a few steps forward.

__

„Don’t breathe“, he ordered Thor before deploying one of the miniature smoke bombs stored in his shoulder plates.

__

The effect was instantaneous. Red smoke (it was his favorite color after all) rushed out of the small container and quickly enveloped the surrounding area. Tony heard a few agents gasp and shout in surprise but he didn’t pay them any attention. The smoke would not actually hurt them although it was laced with a small dose of a strong sedative that would slow down their reaction time.

__

Seizing the moment of confusion created by the smoke bomb Tony used the infrared function of his suit to properly locate Thor. He grabbed the blond god with one arm and used the other one as well as his thruster boots to set off into the evening sky.

__

**JARVIS, ready a guest room in the mansion.**

__

_Already working on it. Shall I order some dinner as well, Sir?_

__

A quick glance at the HUD notified Tony that it was already half past 6pm. Before he was able to answer his son, Thor chimed in: „Who are you, metal man? Set me down this instant! Those common warriors need to learn to show some respect to a foreign prince.“

__

When Tony didn’t seem to react to his inquiry, Thor started to wriggle out of Iron Mans grip.

__

„What are you doing? Do you want us to crash?“

__

„I’m trying to get back to those guys you covered in some kind of red magic.“

__

„That wasn’t magic, it’s.. you know what, nevermind. You can’t go back there. They’ll try to imprison you and if they do they’ll want answers. And believe me, they won’t be happy if you refuse.“

__

„That does not matter. My friend is still there. I can not leave him. Now, set me down, mortal!“

__

Tony rolled his eyes and opened his face mask. The wind rushed in his face and made it hard to see where they were flying.

__

„Thor, it’s me, you oaf. Now stop struggling and let me get us home.“, noticing the surprised and fascinated look on Thors face, Tony added: „I promise to explain more once we’re there.“

__

Thor huffed annoyed but finally seized resisting. The face mask snapped back down.

__

„We’ll get there in about 6 minutes.“. If Thor was honest the mechanical voice and the emotionless features of the mask made him feel uneasy. He rather preferred talking to his friends face to face. Anton must have even more stories to tell than Thor had expected.

__

Both of them got really quiet after that. It was a beautiful night, the stars shone bright and there was not a single cloud in sight. The remaining six minute flight felt like an eternity. Tony was already making plans on a new midgardian identity for Thor, he was convinced the less people knew about alien gods the better. Meanwhile Thor was thinking about his own banishment and how to get back to Asgard, preferably with mjolnir in his hands and Anton at his side.

__

The sun just started to disappear beyond the horizon when they arrived at Tonys mansion. They landed on the rooftop since actually flying inside the house was out of the question with a passenger to hold on to. As soon as the armor made contact with the rooftop, panels started to open and small robotic arms began removing it piece by piece.

__

„So this is your home, Anton? For a midgardian home it surely looks impressive, my friend. Where do you keep your beer? We should not exchange our stories without sufficient beverages.“

__

The fact that Tony really didn’t look forward to his part in the sharing stories thing meant he was completely on board with getting a bit drunk (or a lot). As the last piece of armor was removed he told JARVIS to get the strongest midgardian beer he could find. Now that Thor knew he was here, maybe he could bring him some elfish mead from one of Alfheims renowned breweries. While he could get drunk on midgardian alcohol, he would have to drink a lot of it. There’s also no better drink than elfish mead in all the nine realms.

__

„I completely agree, point break. Come with me, JARVIS is preparing everything. I ordered some italian food for us. Well, J did all the ordering but you know what i mean.“

__

Not waiting for a reply Tony strode through the sliding glass door on his rooftop. Thor shrugged the unfamiliar nickname off and followed Anton inside. The way he trailed behind the genius made Thor think back to his days as a child, when he and Anton used to take secret strolls through the city. His father hadn’t allowed the princes to leave the palace out of fear that something might happen to them out on the streets. Thor and Loki had begged and cried to no avail. Not even Anton, as the kings personal advisor, could change Odins mind. Anton was adamant about the importance of getting to know the people and their every day lives though. Which is why they started sneaking out of the palace. They discovered quite a few secret passages that Thor was sure not even his father knew about. The following secret walks through the lower city we’re a regular part of their lessons and both princes loved and appreciated them. Thinking about their shared past made a smile flick over his face.

__

**JARVIS, the silent guardian protocols are offline unless someone besides Thor and myself is in the building.**

__

_Alright, Sir._

__

**How about you introduce yourself, J?**

__

_„Welcome to Malibu, Mr. Odinson. I am JARVIS. Just a rather very intelligent system.“_

__

Tony sneakily glanced to Thor just fast enough so see him jerk back in surprise. He tried to smother a laugh when he noticed the other gods mystified glances at the ceiling.

__

„Greetings, JARVIS. So you are the one Anton told me about. Where are you? Show yourself so i may get to know you properly.“ He stopped in the hallway and seemed to wait for some kind of physical being to appear out of nowhere.

__

_„I’m afraid I do not possess a corporeal form, Mr. Odinson. I feel the need to point out that I do not require a body to protect what is important to me.“_

__

JARVIS voice got more mechanical, even emotionless at the end. That last sentence made Tony pause. Was JARVIS threatening a god for him? Oh hel, he totally was. 

**J, you’re the best.**

__

Tony couldn’t help but grin. He might not have a home on Asgard anymore but he sure as hell had a family right here.

__

„I did not intend to offend you. I apologize if that was the case. I can assure you i would never hurt Anton. He’s a shield brother and a very good friend.“

__

While Thor explained himself he let his gaze wander around the hallway which was frustratingly bare, a vast contrast to the golden halls of Asgards royal palace. With nothing else to focus on, his eyes went for Tony. He had to admit the other god looked exactly like he did when he suddenly disappeared all those centuries ago. His dark brown mop of hair reminded Thor of a specific tree they had on Asgard and his warm eyes still had that golden glimmer that had made him very popular with the ladies on Asgard even though he practiced magic, an art not appreciated by most aesir warriors. Thor didn’t have anything against magic, how could he, he fought with a magic hammer. Well, he had fought with it, now he just had to find a way to get mjolnir back again.

__

„In fact, I’d like to get the whole story from Anton himself first, then I will talk to my father about lifting the banishment on our dear Anton. He has been away from home for too long.“

__

Thor was able to see the shock in Antons eyes. He also recognized when his eyes darkened and Anton tried to pretend he wasn’t as affected as he actually was. He easily recognized the turmoil of emotions that went on inside the engineer, after all he had grown up admiring the older god. Whatever had happened, Thor swore he would stand by Antons side.

__

Tony had never considered going back to the golden realm. Technically he would be allowed to if Thor managed to convince Odin to lift the ban (to be honest Tony didn’t think Odin would ever budge on his decision). Did he even want to though? His family was on Earth. He’s lived on Midgard for centuries now and he liked it - liked the humans and their determination for change, liked the identity he had made for himself and it didn’t hurt that he preferred AC/DC to the bards at Asgards elaborate fiests.

__

„I..I don’t think that’s a good idea, big guy.“, Tony paused as if he wanted to add something. He must’ve decided against it because he shrugged and left Thor standing in the hallway, claiming the food would get cold if they wouldn’t get their asses to the kitchen immediately.

__

Thor stayed behind and quietly asked JARVIS: „Did I say something wrong?“

__

_„Mr. Odinson, I think you should ask him yourself. I don’t think Sir had ever even seriously considered returning even if I’m sure he often wanted to. Keep in mind that I’m telling you all this because I think you’re good for him. Do not make me regret trusting you.“_

__


	4. The Talk

**JARVIS, do you think i should go back to Asgard..? Not now, just..ever?**

_I think it would be wise to consider the shortness of a human lifespan compared to your own, Sir. Assuming you have Thor by your side, going back to Asgard should not be a problem. There is also the added benefit of meeting Loki again._

**Maybe you’re right..at least considering long term affairs. Soon Thor will be king of Asgard and Odin will be nothing more than a bad memory anyways.**

Tony approached the heap of italian take out that had been dropped off on his kitchen table. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced at the picture frame next to his kitchen appliances. It was a picture from one of the military fundraisers he had been invited to. There was Rhodey, laughing alongside him. Pepper had given him that picture frame for his 35th birthday.

**I won’t leave them, J. I can’t leave my family again. I had no choice with Thor and Loki, but I do now.**

„Anton, my friend, this smells delicious. What is it?“, Thor asked as he stormed into the kitchen. He must’ve decided to let Tony be for now because he didn’t mention what had happened before.

As Tony watched Thor he noticed the god was wearing what looked like someone else’s clothes. They didn’t fit properly and made Thor look even more out of place.

**Would you mind ordering some clothes for our guest, J? Something a bit more fitting and maybe a suit or two? We don’t know how long he’s going to be here and everybody should own a suit.**

_Of course, Sir. A box with Mr. Odinsons new attire should arrive tomorrow morning._

Pointing towards the bags of food Tony answered: „It’s mostly pasta, some seafood, you’re going to love it, big guy. It’s a shame really, that Asgard never had much interest in the other realms cuisines. Help me get this to the couch over there while I get the booze from the basement.“

Thor nodded and started carrying the take out boxes to the living room. He sat down on a beige loveseat and surveyed the room while he waited for Anton to return. There was a big black box fixed on the wall, what that was for he didn’t know. There was also a piano next to him. He knew the instrument from the time Loki had told him about Midgard because ‚It’s important to get to know the realms you are going to rule over, brother.‘. He remembered thinking about how much his brother had reminded him of Anton that day. Lost in his memories, Thor didn’t realize when the older god came back and only snapped out of it at the sound of glass bottles hitting the table.

„You still with us?“, Tony quipped, „Let’s eat first, I haven’t had solid food for.. JARVIS how long ago was that?“

_„Approximately 22 hours, Sir. I recommend eating more regularly.“_

„Yeah, yeah. I don’t have time for that, J. Anyways, I’m hungry, so dig in!“

When even the last piece of food had been devoured they had drunk more beer than any human would’ve been able to handle. The asgardians didn’t feel anything more than maybe a little bit tipsy.

Tony was the first one to break the ensuing silence: „Soo, why are you even on earth? Not that I’m complaining, it’s great to see you again. And why is mjolnir sitting in a ditch in New Mexico?“

Thor flinched at the mention of his hammer. He stopped staring down his empty plate and shifted his gaze towards Tony. His serious expression made Tony worry about what he was going to say.

„Ah, you see, I was supposed to be king of Asgard by now.“, Thor paused and Tonys interest was definitely piqued by now. After taking another gulp of his beer he continued: „Frost giants interrupted the ceremony. They entered the vault and were killed by the destroyer. I wanted revenge, wanted to react to this act of war from the frost giants, go to Jotunheim and fight them myself but father forbade it. The warriors three, lady Sif, Loki and I went anyways.“

„You did WHAT? You went to Jotunheim with just five other people? Thor, that was very irresponsible! You could’ve died! Jotuns aren’t generally known for their hospitality and if you went there with the intention of war I’m sure they weren’t pleased. Loki agreed to this madness?“, Tony was shocked to say the least. Not only wouldn’t he have expected Thor to risk the lives of his fellow shield brothers, he also would’ve thought Loki would’ve been able to talk some sense into Thor. What had happened to those two? Of course Tony had expected them to have changed in all those years, how could they not have, but this was very atypical for them both.

„No, he didn’t. He also didn’t try to stop me. I think he might have told Heimdall to alert father of our plans when we left through the bifrost. I’m very thankful for that, in fact I see now that he was right. Attacking Jotunheim straight away was a bold and incredibly stupid move and I should’ve considered my actions and their consequences more carefully. Instead I recklessly endangered my friends and for what? For Laufey to openly declare war on Asgard.“, Thor scoffed, „I was wrong and now I can’t do anything to make up for my mistakes.“ He clenched his fists and took another swig from his glass.

„Odin took my powers and mjolnir away from me, he banished me to earth and now he ignores my pleas. Heimdall won’t react to me either. Not being able to do something, to help, it’s frustrating, Anton. I don’t know what I should do.“, Thor admitted sheepishly. He wasn’t used to not being the guy with a plan. The god decided he could live happily without ever feeling this helpless again. And yet, if there was anyone he was comfortable admitting his worries to, it was Anton.

After a few seconds of silence had passed Tony had finally figured out what he wanted to say: „That’s a lot, Thor, but I get it. Everybody makes mistakes, it’s what you do about them that counts. It was wrong to attack a whole planet because of the actions of a few individuals, it was reckless and foolish and you should have listened to your father this once, Thor. I hope you truly understand that now.“

Thor felt a bit like a child getting scolded but he could hear the fondness seeping through Antons voice. It was a warm feeling he would never forget. While his father had always been cold and his mother wasn’t there for her children all that often, Anton had always been the comforting person the princes would turn to if they had any problems or worries. He was also the god that most often had to scold the two kids after another one of their misplaced pranks on visiting royals or arrogant ladies.

Unaware of Thor briefly getting lost in his memories, Tony continued: „I am sure Odin is doing everything in his power to stop a possible war between Asgard and Jotunheim. If Asgard would be in serious danger I’m sure Odin would bring you back, banishment or not. So there’s no need to worry too much about it.“

If Tony was honest, he wasn’t completely sure if Odin would bring Thor back. After all the old geezer could be extremely stubborn if he wanted to. If Odin felt he was in the right he wouldn’t change his mind that easily. In case an actual full out war were to happen they would definitely notice something though, even on Midgard. The nine realms belonged together, something big, like a war between them, would cause ripples along Yggdrasil and Tony would be able to feel it. There hadn’t been anything like that since the last war Odin fought with Jotunheim.

„Surely you’re right, Anton. I just can’t seem to get any rest not knowing what’s going on back home. But enough of me, old friend, what happened to you?“

There it was, the part he wanted to avoid. „Wait a second“, Tony lifted his finger, ran over to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of whiskey. A good one, single malt irish whiskey that probably cost a fortune. Tony didn’t know how much exactly, it wasn’t like he had to watch every penny he spent on stupid things like pretentiously expensive alcohol. He gulped the glass down and poured himself a second one. Way better.

„Okay, so first off, as long as we’re on earth it’s Tony, not Anton. I’ve been Tony Stark the last few decades and I like it. So please, stick to that at least when we’re not alone. The red and gold armor you saw earlier is also mine. I made it a few years ago after an incident with my weapons and some terrorists. The armor is known as Iron Man and the humans don’t know it’s me in there so I’d appreciate you keeping quiet about that bit of information, alright?“, he paused just long enough to make eye contact with Thor. After getting a nod from the younger god he continued with his hurried explanation. It was obvious Tony wanted to get through this as soon a possible.

„I’ve been basically stranded on earth ever since I had to leave Asgard. Midgard isn’t a place people from other realms visit frequently. I’ve met some, here and there but they never seemed to stay long enough to warrant my trust, or else I might have sent a message to you.“ Tony got a sad look on his face. He had felt very lonely those first decades on another realm, with no friends or allies to speak of, no home and no comfort from anywhere.

„The norns must’ve been on my side since I had one of my illusion amulets with me when Odin banished me. It helped me alter my appearance to mortal eyes without relying on my magic. That was how I had multiple identities over the years. At first I kept to myself as much as possible. Howard Stark was the first identity I actually tried to accomplish something as. I built my own company, sold some of my inventions to the military and suddenly everyone in America seemed to know who I was. And I’d be lying if i said I didn’t like it.“, Tony smirked. All that attention and adoration was as close as he could get to being worshipped as a god. It made him feel less alone.

„So I decided to keep it going. When Howard got too old I let him die, and Tony Stark emerged. The long lost son of a true american patriot. The people easily believed my story. I kept my company, I continued building what came to my mind and that’s how I spent the past twenty years or so. I got myself some friends, family really.“

Tony smiled and thought about his first meeting with the woman who pepper sprayed some dude sexually harassing her while she was on her way to Stark Industries. Tony had seen it happen from the distance and when he came close enough to ask her if she was okay she had already disappeared into the building. He was pleasantly surprised to see her again in the interview for the position of personal assistant to Tony Stark. Starting on that day she was known as Pepper.

He must’ve been daydreaming longer than he thought because Thor took the pause as his cue to continue the conversation.

„Aye, it seems to me you have created a second home for you here on Midgard. I’m very glad to hear that you haven’t been alone all this time, Anton. I just don’t understand, what would bring my father to go as far as banishing his most trusted advisor? I had not noticed any hard feelings between you both while you were still with us.“

Tony sighed and took a small sip of his whiskey glass. „You see, it wa-“

_„Sir, I detect unusual energy spikes right next to you. I don’t know what’s causing them.“_

The air to the right of Thor started to shimmer. There was some green mist rapidly solidifying right before a man appeared in it’s place. He had jet black hair falling in waves down to his shoulders and he was wearing an impeccably fitting green suit. Tony immediately recognized the figure that had appeared. Before he was able to react, the man began to speak.

„Thor, brother, I come bearing grave news. Father, he-“, The black haired god paused once he noticed that Thor wasn’t alone. He looked shocked, like a deer caught in the headlights. „Anton?“


	5. Loki

There were lots of thoughts running through Tonys head in that moment. Thoughts like ‚He’s grown so much‘, ‚I’m so glad to see him again‘, ‚Is he going to hate me?‘, ‚What happened to Odin?‘ and some more intelligent thoughts like ‚Lokiiii!‘. Unfortunately only the latter seemed to make it past Tony’s lips.

„Loki.“, he whispered. If all the assembled gods hadn’t had superhuman hearing they probably wouldn’t have heard the following „I’ve missed you“ coming from the black haired god. When he seemed to realize what he just said, Lokis stance changed, he straightened up looking more formal than Tony had ever seen him before. His gaze hardened, his face became an emotionless mask in a manner so practiced that Tony worried about how often Loki had had to hide himself, then he cleared his throat.

Loki decidedly didn’t catch Tonys eyes again and instead turned to his brother. „Thor, it seems to me you have company. I will leave you to it and come back at a later time.“, Lokis mask seemed to crack and his voice wavered as he quietly asked: „If you knew he was alive, why didn’t you tell me? I had the right to know.“

Loki disappeared in a small cloud of dark green mist just as Tony got enough of a grip on himself to stand up and call after him: „Loki! No, wait!“

It had been too late. The black haired god was already gone and the other two stared baffled at the slowly dissolving mist. „He.. he left. Did he think you’ve known about me all this time? Thor, that’s horrible. We have to tell him the truth.“

Tony was horrified. Now Loki would surely hate him. If he truly thought Thor had known all along, he must feel so betrayed right now. Now more than ever Tony wished for his magic back. That way he would’ve been able to do something, maybe go after Loki or maybe he could’ve stopped him from leaving in the first place. Tony started pacing up and down his living room trying to figure out how to right this situation.

„Agreed, Anton. I can’t believe Loki would think me capable of doing such a thing. Had I known of your whereabouts he would’ve been the first to know.“, Thor shook his head not being able to grasp why his brother would jump to this conclusion so easily. Had something happened on Asgard while he was away? Loki had mentioned their father, he wondered if the All-father was alright.

After another minute without either of them saying something, JARVIS decided to intervene.

_„If I may, Sir, Loki had mentioned coming back to talk to Thor. To me it looks like your best option is waiting for him to come back to you. With your magic bound and Thor still exiled from Asgard there doesn’t seem to be much you can do.“_

JARVIS was right. That didn’t mean waiting got any easier. After another five minutes of restless pacing and worrying Tony decided he needed something to do to take his mind off of things. He turned to the god of thunder still staring at the place Loki had disappeared from.

„Hey, Thor, I’m going to go down to my workshop, alright? You can stay here, maybe watch something on TV - JARVIS can show you how. Or J can show you to your room if you’d prefer to get some rest, I’m sure this was an exiting and tiring day for you as well. If you need something just ask, JARVIS will make sure to help. Oh, and Thor, if- no, when Loki shows up, please tell him the truth. Maybe tell him that I’d like to see him as well, yeah?“

„I’ll make sure to tell him. Anton, Loki will see reason. I don’t know what happened to make him this on edge but whatever it is, in the end Loki will see the truth. He won’t miss out on spending time with you for much longer than he already has. I’m sure of it.“

Despite Thor seeming very convinced about his claim, Tony couldn’t help but doubt it. There was a deep hurt in Lokis voice that he had never heard from the god before. With a noncommittal shrug Tony turned and fled down to his basement.

After Tony had downed at least 5 cups of coffee he was still working on details on his armor. The Iron Man project always made Tony feel giddy and exited. He never suffered a lack of ideas on what to improve and upgrade on his next suit. Tony was so immersed in his work that hours passed without him noticing. As he grabbed a hammer to form a piece of metal he suddenly remembered the god upstairs.

**J, what time is it? And how is our resident god of thunder doing?** After a short pause he added: **Did Loki show up yet?**

_It is currently 02:33am, Sir. Mr. Odinson went to his room approximately four hours ago, before that he watched a nature documentary on wildlife in Canada. He seemed to be doing well. My sensors haven’t picked up on Lokis energy signature yet. I can notify you when it happ- Sir, there is a spike in energy levels at the workshop entrance._

By the time Tony had turned to the door Loki was already leaning against it, a casual mask on his face. Before any of them said a word they took their time to really take in the other god. Lokis long hair looked more disheveled than the day before, his green suit had been exchanged for a beige tunic and loose emerald green pants. Tony could see the hurt in Lokis eyes. The betrayal and frustration. He decided he preferred Lokis strikingly green eyes when they were not darkened by these negative emotions and contoured by dark eye bags.

Loki was the first to break the silence: „Anton, or should I say Tony Stark? I’ve read a bit about you. I’ve been trying to figure out why you would rather live your life on Midgard than be by my - and that oaf Thors - side. Although you seemed to have no problem staying in touch with the golden poster child of Asgard.“ Bitterness was seeping through Lokis voice and Tony wanted nothing more than to go over and hug the younger god until it was all gone.

„Oh Loki, you’re getting this all wrong. I didn’t voluntarily leave Asgard and I haven’t been keeping in contact with your brother either.“ Tony didn’t miss how Loki had flinched when his brother was mentioned. The god of mischief raised an eyebrow and waved his hand for Tony to continue. The older god was sure he recognized a small shimmer of hope in Lokis eyes.

Tony told Loki about how he had met Thor yesterday for the first time in centuries and saw the god visibly relax at that. He told him everything he had told Thor just hours earlier. He rushed through all the information, meanwhile he was keeping a close eye on Loki.

When he was done he took a deep breath and anxiously waited for the other god to give some kind of reaction. The workshop felt too quiet, every second way too long.

Then, just when Tony was about to ask the other god to say something, Loki disappeared.

He didn’t stay away for long though since he reappeared two seconds later - this time right in front of Tony.

Once again the older god was enveloped in a rib crushing hug. If this was going to become a regular thing Tony might have to wear his underarmor daily after all.

„Just so you know, I didn’t miss you leaving out the reason for Odin banishing you. I’m very glad you’re alive though, Anton. I missed you dearly.“, Loki whispered in Tonys neck.

Feeling all the tension seeping out of him, Tony returned the hug and relaxed into Lokis embrace. They stayed together until JARVIS chimed in.

_„Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt, but the director of SHIELD just called to schedule a meeting with you for today at 5pm. Should we decline?“_

Tony reluctantly peeled himself out of Lokis arms and awkwardly cleared his throat. „No, J, let’s see what they want first. We can always send them home after.“ While he was answering JARVIS he noticed something else: „J, the silent guardian protocols didn’t exclude Loki yet.“

_„Your meeting with SHIELD director Nicholas Fury is scheduled for later today. I’d recommend getting some sleep before then. Sir, as a learning AI I felt it was appropriate to make certain decisions by myself. Since Loki, like Thor, knows about your true identity it made no sense to keep myself secret._

„Smartass.“, Tony mumbled.

_„I hear the apple does not fall far from the tree, Sir.“_

Tony let out a laugh at that. When his eyes landed on Loki, he recognized the confusion about the new voice that had suddenly started talking.

„Loki, that was JARVIS, artificial intelligence, one of my creations and sort of my kid. He doesn’t have a body but he can see, hear and do pretty much everything anyways.“ As always when Tony talked about his kids he was grinning with pride.

_„Hello, Mr. Odinson. It’s a pleasure to meet you.“_

At the mention of ‚Odinson‘ Loki had flinched again, even though he covered it up right away. Not fast enough for Tony to miss it though.

„It’s nice to meet you as well, JARVIS. Would you mind just calling me Loki instead, please.“

_„Of course, Loki. I’ll ready a guest room for you.“_

When Loki looked like he might protest, Tony stepped in: „Stay, please. There’s so much we should talk about and I don’t want you to leave yet. We’ve only just met again.“

Loki held eye contact with Tony for a few moments, contemplating the consequences of staying away from Asgard for another day. He decided it was worth it if he could spend more time with Anton instead.

„Okay. For now I’ll stay.“


	6. The Banishment

When Tony woke up the first thing he noticed was that he felt like he was being watched. He stayed very still, pretending to be asleep, and tried to figure out who it might be. The memories of what happened before he fell asleep flooded his mind. How he got Thor from New Mexico and how Loki showed up, how Loki said he’d stay and how they had reminisced about the old times on Asgard for an hour before going to bed. Separately. Tony was pretty sure Loki had gone up to his guest room.

Suspiciously Tony blinked his eyes open. The workshop was still dark (yes, he had fallen asleep on the couch in his workshop again).

„JARVIS, give me some light please.“

The blinding white light burned in his eyes while Tony was getting up from the couch. There, on the other side of the workshop stood a person. Tony squinted and identified the other god as Loki.

„Loki, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?“, Tony asked, admittedly a little worried and maybe a bit creeped out - you don’t just sneak into a room where someone is sleeping.

The black haired god, still in the same attire from yesterday, looked a bit uncomfortable. „I..I wasn’t able to sleep. So I thought you might still be awake. I see I shouldn’t have presumed. That was very rude of me. I just.. I had to make sure you were still here.“ The quiet, honest tone in Lokis voice broke Tonys heart.

„It’s alright, Loki. Come on, let’s go up to the kitchen. I need some coffee. You probably prefer some tea, huh? No worries though, Pepper makes me buy some for her regularly.“ Tony stalked over to Loki, grabbed his hand and dragged the surprised god up the workshop stairs.

The older god had to admit that unfortunately, just like alcohol, coffee didn’t do all that much for him. He liked the taste though so he stuck with it.

In the kitchen a blonde god was already sitting at the counter, peacefully drinking a beer and eating a pop-tart. For one thing, Tony never would understand how someone could drink beer for breakfast and additionally in combination with a sweet pop-tart? What a strange combination. And for another, he was pretty sure he didn’t even own pop-tarts. Thor must’ve told JARVIS to get some.

„Good morning, point break! Had a good nights sleep? I see you’ve ordered some food?“

Thor looked up from taking a hearty bite out of his strawberry pop-tart and grinned: „Aye, Anton. Those popped tarts are a true delicacy, my friend. And the bed in the guest room was-„, Thor stopped mid sentence to stare at the god behind Tony. „Loki, I see you’re back. I assure you I didn’t know about Anton or I would’ve told you right away.“

Loki rolled his eyes and tried to calm Thor down: „No worries, brother, I know now. Anton told me about how you two met yesterday. I apologize for accusing you keeping that secret.“

While the princes had their reunion moment, Tony had started the coffee machine and a water heater. When both, the peppermint tea and his own black coffee were done, he set them on the counter and motioned for Loki to have a seat.

The three of them sat in quiet, just drinking their beverages, Thor occasionally crunching on his pop-tart. Then Loki couldn’t resist asking anymore: „Anton, why were you banished from Asgard?“

With a direct question like this and the way Thors eyes lit up with interest, Tony knew there was no backing out of this. He gulped the last bit of coffee down and took a deep breath.

„Just a warning, though, you probably won’t like what I’m going to tell you.“, Tony started. When no one gave him any other reaction than expectant stares he sighed.

„Alright then, remember back on Asgard when I had to go on lots of diplomatic missions? I used to take Loki pretty often as well.“ Both younger gods nodded, wondering where this story was going to go.

„So, when I was appointed advisor to the king, out of the eight other realms, -Vanaheim, Nidavellir, Alfheim, Jotunheim, Muspelheim, Svartalfheim, Niflheim, and Midgard- we only had working treaties with Alfheim and Vanaheim. The goal was to expand those treaties to other realms and, of course, keep the ones we already had in place or even better them. Loki, you know yourself, we started talks with Nidavellir and now they’re a close ally to Asgard. I went to Muspelheim and convinced the fire giants to work with Asgard as well. Svartalfheim is empty since the war Bor fought. Midgard was too unimportant for consideration, Niflheim is void of any living creatures and Odin forbade any contact to Jotunheim.“

Tony looked at the princes and saw that they both still had no clue how any of that had something to do with his banishment. He also noticed that Loki looked considerably more uncomfortable whenever Jotunheim was mentioned. He wondered why that was.

„I.. well, I didn’t really want to believe everything someone told me, I had to see for myself. I went to Midgard and saw that they were indeed so far behind that talking to them wouldn’t have benefitted Asgard. I visited Svartalfheim, just to see if it was truly abandoned and besides a small village of stranded travelers, it was. Niflheim was surprising though. I went to Hel, to see it for myself, I guess I was always a bit too curious for my own good. Congrats, you guys have a sister.“

Tony watched the shocked surprise on their faces. He didn’t wait long enough for them to ask any questions though, he wanted to get this whole thing done with after all.

„Yeah, I know, shocking. Even I didn’t know about her before that. She was banished there by Odin himself. You better watch out. She seems like a pretty awesome person but she’s super pissed at the All-father. Anyways, no treaties to be made there so..I went to Jotunheim.“, Tony paused and tried to gauge the princes reactions.

„Anton! Didn’t you just lecture me yesterday about not going there with only five people by my side? And you went alone?“, Thor exclaimed exasperated. Loki looked a bit frightened even.

„I lectured you about going there seeking to do harm. I, on the other hand, went to see if Asgard could start to make peace with them. It wasn’t easy, not at first. The Jotnar were rather suspicious of my intentions - understandable really - that war wasn’t pretty after all. But I quickly started to make friends. The Jotnar value magic, unlike most aesir. They also appreciated any help in rebuilding their society after the lost war. It wasn’t that long until I became friends with Laufey himself and we started talking about the relations between Asgard and Jotunheim.

Only Odin still didn’t know about my visits to Jotunheim, I knew he wouldn’t understand and to be honest I wasn’t sure about how to bring up the topic of a possible peace treaty. So the whole time I was sneaking out of the palace and through the small hidden pathways along Yggdrasil's branches to travel between realms. Turns out the warriors three and Sif noticed me sneaking around one day. I must’ve gotten careless after all this time. They followed me to Jotunheim.

I didn’t notice them, they must’ve seen me talk to Laufey though. When I came back to Asgard, the king’s guards escorted me to the throne room. I didn’t know what was going on. In the throne room they were there. Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and Sif, standing there, staring at me with such disgust written on their faces. I had my suspicions right then and there about the reason for my audience with the king. Odin sat in his throne, holding on to Gungnir, and I still see the contempt with which he eyed me. He said I was a disgrace to Asgard. That I should have never gone against his will and should have left the quote unquote ‚disgusting‘ Jotnar alone.

I pleaded with him to see reason. To see that Jotnar are not the monsters he made them out to be. Some of my best friends were jotun by that time. Yet Odin wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. He had made up his mind. In his eyes I had betrayed Asgard, betrayed him and he didn’t see any reason to wait with the execution of his punishment. He raised Gungnir, bound my magic and sent me to Midgard. But you knew that already.“

Now that Tony had that story off his chest he felt about 50 years younger. He felt light and elated yet he feared that his friends responses might still end this feeling at any time now.

Thor’s surprised look morphed into anger and just when Tony mentally prepared himself for losing Thor’s friendship after all, the younger god roared: „Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg, Sif! How dare they! They didn’t even have the decency to explain what had happened to you! I swear when I see them again they won’t be able to walk straight for at least a century! Nay, make that four, one for every friend that betrayed me and mine like this. I trust your judgement, Anton, if you say the Jotun are not the monsters we were told about, I believe you. I swear, once I am king of Asgard there shall be true peace with Jotunheim“

Tony breathed out a relieved sigh. Thor didn’t hate him. And he believed him. He anxiously looked to the second prince. What would Lokis reaction be? Would he follow in his brothers footsteps and accept Tonys decisions?

Loki had frozen still sometime during his story. He stared at Tony in shock and wonder. Just when a small tear started making it’s way down Lokis cheek the green eyed god blinked and teleported himself away.

„What? Why, where.. J, where is he?“

_„It appears Loki has teleported to his guest room, Sir.“_


	7. Jotun

Thor looked about as confused as Tony felt. He had expected lots of reactions, Loki crying and then fleeing hadn’t been one of them.

„Maybe you should go see if he’s alright, Anton. I get the feeling he doesn’t want me there right now.“ The blonde god seemed a quite sad about that admission. There was no way Tony would protest though. He didn’t hesitate to storm off in the direction of the stairs once he realized that something was definitely off about Loki. If even Thor had realized something wasn’t right Tony had to admit he was getting a bit worried.

The door to Lokis guest room was closed, thanks to the soundproofed doors in his mansion there was no way of telling what was going on inside. Tony took a deep breath, feeling the arc reactor straining against his ribcage. He knocked on the door and waited.

It took a few minutes where nothing happened, then Tony saw the handle turning. The door swung open, revealing a pristinely clean room and one disheveled looking god. A disheveled looking BLUE god. Lokis - and it was definitely Lokis face looking back at him - red eyes anxiously watched Tony.

He must have been standing there staring at Loki (JOTUN LOKI!) for too long because the younger god started to look dejected and resigned and tried to hide behind the now closing door.

Tony quickly put his foot in the door. „Loki, wait! I didn’t mean to stare. You’re a Jotun. You’re… how come I never knew. Wait, since when did you know? You look so..“

„Hideous, I know. I found out on the trip to Jotunheim, when a frost giant grabbed me while we were fighting. Then my arm turned this damned color.“, Loki scoffed. Tony thought the way Lokis nose had scrunched up was adorable but there was no way he would accept someone talking about Loki this way, not even the god himself.

„What? No, Loki, no, not hideous.“, Tony interjected. „Beautiful, I was going to say you look stunning. You’re the most amazing shade of blue I’ve ever seen on a Jotun. And your eyes..you know red has always been my favorite color, Loki.“ Tony winked.

**J, did I just wink to Loki? Have I gone the flirting route with my former mentee right after he revealed some possibly life changing secret?**

_Surely looks that way, Sir. May I suggest waiting with pursuing romantic relationships until after all parties have calmed down?_

**You’re talking nonsense, J. It was just some harmless flirting, that’s all there is to it.**

Loki looked a bit flustered. „You truly think so? The Jotnar.. those that you met, they truly aren’t monsters? I am not a..“, Loki choked up and shed another tear. It dawned on Tony right then how much of a burden this must have been on Loki. Thinking himself a monster, left and betrayed by the ones he had trusted.

Tony couldn’t resist stepping forwards into Lokis room and drawing the silently crying god into his arms. „Trust me Loki, you are not a monster. Jotnar aren’t monsters. I know the stories that Asgard tells about them but they’re not true. They’re made up by petty winners of a war that left both sides worse for wear. I was there, Loki, I know firsthand Jotuns are just people. They build, they create, they love and live just like everyone else. And I know you. Where you come from doesn’t change who you are. And the Loki I know is smart and ambitious, passionate and witty, and most definitely not a monster.“

When Loki sagged into his arms Tony closed the door with his foot. It just felt like a private moment that should stay behind closed doors. Slowly Lokis elegant horns disappeared, the striking blue that reminded Tony of the royal sapphires Pepper used to wear retreated to be replaced by light skin and the ruby eyes staring at Tony were replaced with the more familiar green.

„Thank you, Anton. I..I don’t think I want Thor to know.. yet. I don’t want him to hate me. I know he said he’d make peace with Jotunheim but for his fake brother to be one of them.. What if he decides otherwise after all? Could you not tell him?“

Tony raised his right hand and brushed a strand of black hair out of Lokis face. „If you don’t want me to tell him, then I won’t. I still think you should, though. Thor will see it the same way I do, I’m sure of it. He’ll still think of you as his brother.“

Then another thought struck Tonys mind: „Loki, you said something about grave news when you arrived. Is everything alright in Asgard?“

Loki blushed and glanced away from the older god. „Well, you see.. I was going to lie and tell Thor Odin had passed away just to lash out, I guess. The All-father isn’t dead yet. He fell into Odinsleep when i confronted him about my heritage.“ Loki seemed lost in thought for a second until he snapped out of it with a victorious glint in his eyes that could only mean one thing: Loki had an idea.

„Mother made me step up as ruler of Asgard. Do you know what that means, Anton? I can use Gungnir to lift this stupid ban restricting your magic! I know it must feel like having a limb tied off to be denied access to such an integral part of yourself. Allow me to help you.“ Next to Loki the air began to shimmer and a long golden spear appeared out of green mist.

„Woah, woah, woah, hold your horses, Lokes. I’m not saying I don’t want my magic back, I really do. Oh how much I want it back.. but first things first. Did Odin say something when you confronted him?“

Loki looked a bit put down and Tony almost regretted stopping him but he had to know what had happened.

„He uhm.. he said he found me abandoned in a temple. Left alone to die in the cold. He also said that I was Laufeys son, that he saved me and then basically took me as a chess piece to start an alliance later on. That might actually be one of the reasons why Odin was so furious that you went to Jotunheim for peace talks on your own. You weren’t supposed to mess with his plans for the rejected Jotun under his oh so loving care“, Loki spat.

As the younger god considered the implications of his heritage for their shared past, Tony made some connections of his own: „You’re Loptr! You are the lost Jotun prince! By Hel, Loki, it all makes sense! Laufey told me about the son he had lost after the war with Asgard. He said they had left the young prince in a temple surrounded by their most capable mages, hidden deep in the mountains so that he would be safe from the battle. But Odin had found a way to get there anyways and he wasn’t alone. When the Jotun returned they only found their mages bodies scattered on the bloody temple floors. There was no sign of their eldest prince. Would you mind dropping your glamor again? Just for a second?“

The baffled Loki managed to nod and showed his Jotun face to Tony once more.

„I knew it! I knew your markings seemed familiar! Those lines? They’re family lines, they are passed on from father to child. And yours, they look like the ones Laufey has. That means at least one thing Odin said was true. I swear to you, Loki, you were loved. Your parents did not abandon you and Odin did not save you from a cruel fate, you are however indeed the son of Laufey and Farbauti.“

With a finger Tony started tracing the intricate lines on Lokis face. „You were never unloved, Loki.“ Getting lost in Lokis now red eyes the older god nearly missed him whisper: „This is.. so much to take in. I don’t understand. I wasn’t abandoned, Odin ripped me from my home by force? How.. how dare Odin do this to me?“

Loki pulled the glamor back up and took a step back. He seemed more.. alive, energized, like he knew exactly what he wanted to do and how to do it. With a determined look in his eyes he declared: „Odin Borson will regret the day he decided to mess with my life. But first,“, Loki pointed Gungnir to Tony, „let’s get rid of that nasty seal.“

The spear seemed to light up and suddenly Tony could feel it. His magic, his seidr, escaping the confines as one by one every strand of the intricate seal was stripped away. In a rush of power it surged through his body once the last constraint was taken away. He felt refreshed and finally, after hundreds of years, truly like himself once again. His eyes must be glowing golden with all that power coursing through his veins.

He missed JARVIS calling out to him when he ripped the arc reactor out of his chest. He wasn’t human, he was aesir, he was Anton, the god of creation and innovation, he was Tony goddamn Stark and he would not run around with a piece of metal stuck in his chest if he had the power to remove it. And he did. With a quick healing spell he closed the literal hole in his chest after he had used another spell to pull out the remaining splinters in his body. A small feat for a god as old as Anton.

_Sir, Sir, are you alright?_

„Anton! What are you doing? Have you gone mad? You can’t just rip a hole in your chest!“

Tony laughed. He felt so amazing he wouldn’t have been able to put it in words if he wanted to. „Oh, stop it you worrywarts. I’m fine. In fact, I feel great. Thank you, Lokes. Really, it means a lot.“

There was a tense moment of Tony and Loki just grinning at each other, both still elated with their new found power/determination. Just when it felt like they might pull closer, like there might be something more there, JARVIS chimed in:

_„Sir, I’m afraid to interrupt once again but it is 5:15pm already and Nick Fury is standing outside the mansion getting quite impatient. He is currently on the phone with a person identified as Maria Hill. They are conspiring to hack their way inside if you do not react in the next few minutes.“_

„How rude. Don’t they know I’m the tech genius here?“ Tony rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed by how they were interrupted right when it got interesting. He contemplated letting them try their luck at hacking JARVIS, there was no way they’d accomplish that anyways but then he decided against it. If he made it seem like he was cooperating they wouldn’t be as tempted to take a closer look at what’s going on.

Tony sighed: „Ugh, fine. Let them in, JARVIS. Make sure Thor’s out of the ground floor first though. We don’t want those two to meet up and blow the whole Iron Man cover.“

The older god was already halfway out of Lokis room when he turned back. „Loki, thank you. Also you might want to get ready because after I’ve maneuvered our own little super spy out of my house again we’re going on a trip to Jotunheim. There’s a war to prevent.“

With a wink and one last look at Lokis amused smirk getting replaced by the dawning realization of the upcoming trip to the place where this whole drama began, Tony strolled downstairs to meet this Fury guy.


	8. Fury and Nyuk

Casually strutting down the silver staircase Tony watched a dark skinned man enter his living area. That must be Nicholas Fury, director of SHIELD, shady government agency extraordinaire. The eye patch reminded him of Odin and that just wasn’t a good start to any following acquaintanceship.

„You must be director Fury, am I right?“, Tony called out while he put on the most press worthy smile he could muster. „To what do I owe the pleasure? I swear I didn’t hack into the pentagon lately, that was just a phase and I grew out of it.“

**J, does he have wires on him?**

_I detect two wire tapping systems. Both went offline as soon as he walked through the front door._

Oblivious to the small conversation between Tony and JARVIS, Fury stated: „Mr. Stark, we think you would prove to be a valuable asset to our organization. We want to offer you a contract as consultant for SHIELD.“

„Aww, that’s sweet, you think you can afford me. Honey, if I wanted to do some charity work, Stark Industries holds plenty of galas I can attend. Consultation fee set aside, I think I need some more information, Fury. Why now? What did your minions find that made you come to me personally?“ Tony planned to find out as much as he could about how much of the truth SHIELD had already figured out.

The SHIELD director looked like he bit in a lemon. „Stark, this is classified information. I can’t just go handing it out to random people. I’m sure you can understand that.“

„Oh, of course I understand. It’s just that my time is very valuable and I can’t just go handing it out to random government agencies, I’m sure you can understand that.“, Tony replied with glee. If Fury wanted to play hard to get, so be it. Tony wasn’t new to that particular game.

Fury sighed. In a tone you might use for speaking to an unreasonably stubborn child he stated: „I know you think you’re always the smartest person in the room but this is not the time, Mr Stark. I’m willing to tell you more in private. Come with me to the SHIELD base and we’ll go from there, after all this really isn’t meant for other ears.“

The director glanced around the house as if he was feeling watched. There was no way he could feel JARVIS, was there?

„I assure you there’s no need for that, Fury. My home is very secure and there’s no one here to listen to your spy secrets besides good old me.“ Tony decided Fury definitely didn’t need to know about the norse gods that were staying upstairs.

When Furys eyebrows went up and he pointedly looked at the kitchen the god realized their cups from earlier were still sitting on the table. Thor must’ve taken his glass of beer with him because there only was a half full cup of what Tony knew to be peppermint tea and Tonys empty coffee mug saying „Science - it’s like magic but real“. As a mage and engineer he had to admit he loved the irony of that.

While Tony tried to come up with a valid explanation for the second mug he heard the unmistakable sound of high heels clicking down his stairs. Puzzled the god turned to the lady elegantly walking towards them.

The woman had long flowing black hair that went down to her hips. She was wearing a short, light green nightgown that emphasized her cleavage and her familiar green eyes sparkled mischievously as she looked right back at Tony. He had no doubt about who the woman actually was. Loki strolled up to Tony, gave him a quick peck on the cheek and whispered loud enough for Fury to hear: „Hey there, sweetie. Thanks for yesterday.“

She pretended to only now notice the director standing right across from them. „Oh, and who is your guest, my dear? I had hoped we might continue where we left off.“ Loki smirked and leaned against the other god. Tony knew it was all acting but goddamn that was so unfair.

„That is the director of this super secret government agency and he‘s trying to make me help them with something. I think my time would be way better spent with you, don‘t you think?“ Tony settled his arm on Lokis shoulders and drew the other god closer.

During their conversation Fury seemed to grow more and more annoyed. „Mister Stark! We’re here because you’re a genius. I’d appreciate it if your playboy ways don’t interfere with what’s important. We really don’t have the time for this. It’s about a potentially earth threatening situation, that’s all I can say for now. Do you want to be a part of this or not?“

„Hmm… let me think.“, Tony made a show of staring not the distance, his free hand brushing an imaginary long beard. „Actually, I think I’ll pass. You know, I’ve got important playboy business to do.“ Tony winked and waved to the one-eyed agent: „Bye-bye, captain!“

The director stormed out of the mansion fuming while Tony couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear. Once Fury had left the gods started laughing. „Did you see his face?“

In a green mist Loki changed back into his male form and lifted the illusion he had cast on his clothing. Even without high heels Loki was way taller than Tony. Tony remembered the day little Loki had outgrown him. He had been so proud to now be the taller one of their friend trio. It didn’t take long for Thor to outgrow Loki again though. That day Tony found Loki sulking in the palace gardens.

„Well, this was fun.“, Loki grinned. Tony nodded. There was something about Loki that hadn’t been there all those years ago. He seemed so guarded and cautious but he also gave off an aura of competence and confidence that he hadn’t had before. Tony was sure the latter was more of a practiced act than actual self-confidence. But the competence thing? That was real. It took some serious skill to use gungnir like that and his teleportation magic was flawless. The older god had to admit he was impressed.

„Your child told me it was safe to come back down again! It’s good to see you both laughing. It has been way too long.“, Thor’s voice boomed down the stairs.

„Haha, agreed, Thor!“, Tony felt happy in a way he hadn’t felt for some time. Surrounded by his friends who know his secret and accepted him anyway, reunited with his shield brothers and additionally he even got his magic back.

A glance at Loki reminded Tony of what he had to do next. „Thor, I talked with Loki and we decided our next stop should be Jotunheim. We’re going to go there together. An old friend and ally, an asg- uhm.. and two asgardian princes. Who would be better suited to plead for peace between the realms than our lot?“

„Actually, Anton decided that all by himself. Although I can’t say I disagree. The princes would definitely have some sway and with Anton by our side they’ll know we mean no harm.“, Loki seemed uncomfortable with the idea of going to Jotunheim but at the same time Tony knew he was determined enough to go through with it.

Eyeing the two gods Thor decided they were right. He had started this mess, he should be a part of resolving it. He could only hope that their friendship with Anton would be enough to overshadow their rightful grudge towards the first prince.

„Aye, my friends. We shall try to bring peace. How do we get there? I know my brothers magic is astounding but teleporting three people simultaneously isn’t an easy feat.“

„No worries, Thor.“, Tony grinned wide. His eyes started glowing an eerie but magical golden and Thor realized Anton had his magic back.

„Teleporting three people might be exhausting but simply opening a portal is also an option“

With a wave of his hand golden sparkles appeared in the room.

**It’s like a Disney movie, J. Am I a good Tinkerbelle?**

Tony couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him at that thought.

The golden sparks formed a door shaped hole in the middle of the living room. Inside there was snow. Lots and lots of snow. And something like polished ice going in a straight line into the distance. 

„I opened it on a less populated road an hour outside the main city. This way we won’t walk right into their war preparations and you guys can get used to their climate a bit better. If it’s as cold as i remember you’re not going to like our little walk.“

Tony smirked and walked through the portal without hesitation. He hoped the princes wouldn’t back out now. As he had expected they followed seconds after him though.

Taking a deep breath of the ice cold air Tony sighed happily. „Try not to start any other wars while we’re here alright?“

When they didn’t answer the older god decided to just start walking in the direction of Jotunheim’s capital city. Their royal family should be in the palace preparing for the upcoming war.

Tony had to admit he didn’t yet know how they would manage to sneak by the guards in the city. Tension might be high enough that the Jotnar wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate the next aesir that tries to show their face. Kill first, ask questions later. He gulped, ending up on the wrong end of a jotun sword wasn’t exactly on his to-do-list for this week.

They had been walking for about ten minutes when the bushes next to the road ahead of them moved. Those bushes were cold resistant vegetation that could only be found on Jotunheim. Tony had spent quite a few of his hours researching everything he could about this planet and their inhabitants while he had been here.

They weren’t supposed to move on their own though. Tony stopped his friends and tried to listen to any clues about what awaited them ahead. Nothing. There was absolute silence.

„Probably just some small creature. I’m sure it’s nothing.“, Thor explained and went on ahead.

When he reached the area next to the suspiciously moving bushes a blue figure jumped out at the asgardian prince and attacked him with a branch.

„You stupid, aesir idiots! You better never show your face here again!“, screamed the blue creature, which - now that he got a better look at it - turned out to be a Jotun.

Not any Jotun either. That was Nyuk, the Jotun that had found Tony the first time he traveled to Jotunheim.

„Nyuk! Nyuk, stop it! It’s me, Anton! Would you please stop hitting my friend with a stick?“

The familiar voice made the Jotun pause. „Anton? Where by hel have you been? It’s been ages!“ Nyuk jumped away from Thor and ran over to the other gods.

„That’s a long story, Nyuk. What’s important is that we stop this war. We need to get into the palace and talk to Laufey. Can you help us? I promise I’ll explain more on the way but we really have no time to waste.“

Nyuk thought it over and glanced back at Thor, who was just now starting to get up again. The Jotun had done a good job on him even though he only had some plants as a weapon.

„Fine, I trust you, Anton. But I need to know why he is here. He started the whole thing in the first place.“


	9. Small change of plans

When Tony had first arrived on Jotunheim he didn’t have a clue on how to behave or where to go. The few records Asgard had on Jotunheim were sketchy and unreliable at best. The secret pathway he had taken to get there the first time had ended behind a mountain range far outside any civilization. He had randomly decided on a direction and started walking.

When he finally spotted some lights in the distance his feet were freezing. The tip of Tonys nose was starting to look more jotun than aesir and he seriously regretted not packing more heating stones. Of course he could’ve just used a quick warming spell but he wanted to preserve all the seidr he possibly could. After all he had no way of knowing what would await him once he actually encountered some Jotnar.

„Hey, you! Can you help me? My carriage broke down and I need to get to the village as fast as possible!“, a voice called.

The young god surveyed his surroundings but there was no one in sight. Shrugging his shoulders he started to move on when a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

There was a hand, a blue hand, frantically waving from down the hill at the side of the road. „Over here! Please, I could really use some help!“

Weighing up his options Tony decided that lending a helping hand now would at least make a good first impression. He strolled in the direction of the still waving hand and hoped the person in question wouldn’t mind his looks.

„Oh, thank the norns, you’re here. I don’t know how I’ll ever get back on the road by myself. And these chests have to get to the apothecary as soon as possible. My father is going to kill me if I don’t get home for dinner! Thanks for- you..“, the Jotun stopped his babbling,„you’re an aesir? How? How are you here?“

The owner of the deep and strangely soothing voice raised an eyebrow in suspicion. He grabbed a sharp piece of wood that must’ve broken off of his wagon. Suddenly getting his carriage repaired and back on the road wasn’t as pressing of an issue anymore.

Tony raised his hands in surrender to show he meant no harm. „My name is Anton Starkson. I am advisor to the Allfather. There’s no need for weapons, I don’t intend to do harm. This animosity has been going on for far too long.“

While the Jotun didn’t seem to relax, he at least lowered his guard a bit. „I am Nyuk, second son to our village healer. I ask you now, Anton Starkson, why are you here? Your Allfather hasn’t cared about my realm in the past millennia, why now?“

That was a good question. After all Odin wasn’t even aware of Anton’s little trip to Jotunheim. He was convinced though that this was the right way to go. Pondering the effects of lying to Nyuk about the Allfathers involvement, he decided to just be honest about it.

„Look, I want to be honest here. Odin Allfather did not send me here and he probably wouldn’t approve of me being here either. I took matters into my own hands and I stand by it. I want to learn about your people, your culture and your home. Then I plan to go to the Allfather, convince him to listen to me and try to form an alliance between our realms.“

„A noble goal. If that is truly why you are here I wish you luck on your endeavors. May the norns be on your side.“, the Jotun nodded and threw his makeshift weapon to the ground. „Jotunheim hasn’t been the same ever since the war and aesir help would be appreciated. At least by some of my people. I don’t know what Laufey-king thinks about this but I do know some Jotnar that loathe and despise your kind.“

The Jotun, Nyuk, turned to his wagon and Tony used the time to take in the scene in front of him. The Jotun was wearing various furs but they covered so little skin that Tony was sure the Jotnar had cold-resistant skin.The broken wagon was connected to another creature the young aesir had never seen before. It looked like a blue bilgesnipe mixed with one of those horse animals they had on Midgard. The animal, whatever it was called, happily munched on a few dry looking branches sticking out through the snow covered ground.

The wagon itself was heavily laden with big chests and warm looking furs. Tony immediately recognized the broken axis. There was no way the Jotun would be able to move that without breaking it even more.

„I can help you with your wagon.“, Tony offered, „I’m pretty skilled with things like this.“

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

After Nyuk agreed to help the trio get an audience with Laufey, he also explained that they were walking in the wrong direction.

„After _someone_ “, Nyuk glared in the direction of the princes, „decided to attack the royal palace out of nowhere, Laufey-king thought it too dangerous to remain there. He, and with him the entire court, relocated to his summer residence in the mountains. I think you’ve been there once, haven’t you, Anton?“

Tony remembered the summer residence pretty well. It was set near a hot fountain close to a cliff. You could see almost all of Jotunheim from up there. And for Tonys aesir skin, the occasional bath in hot water was a welcome change from the cold climate.

From a strategic standpoint the summer residence, summer castle, really, was also very beneficial. The location between mountains made attacks form the sides almost impossible, to the front there was a steep cliff so they didn’t have much to fear there either. The only way to properly reach the castle was from the back and the Jotnar had made very sure they had the advantage in that situation.

„Yes, that’s true. unfortunately for us that means another day of walking to get there. I don’t know what will await us up there so we should conserve our seidr as much as possible.“

Just when Tony thought they could start getting on their way, a dull thump made him look back.

„Thor!“ The blonde god had fallen back onto the icy road after trying to recover from Nyuks stick attack.

The young gods lips had turned a worrying shade of blue and a pale white had replaced the usual golden shimmer of aesir skin. That was when Tony remembered how Thor had been stripped of all his powers and was basically a mortal now.

Worry creasing his forehead Tony hurried over to his friend. „Thor, you oaf. You should’ve told me you were freezing. The Norns be damned, I should’ve known.“

Loki, who had been attentively listening from the sidelines until then must’ve finally realized what had happened. He joined Anton at Thors side and watched the older aesir perform a combined warming and healing spell. He did it with such practiced ease that Loki started wondering about how often Anton must’ve used them on himself.

„Hey, Lokes, would you mind keeping a warming spell over Thor, here? I think as long as you have Gungnir you should be able to access more seidr than myself. I’m also pretty sure just wrapping Thor in fur won’t do the trick. It’s way too cold on Jotunheim for mortals.“

Thors voice chimed in before Loki could agree: „’m fine. ’tis just a little cold.“

Three pairs of eyebrows shot up and mustered Thor skeptically - yes, three, even Nyuk could see through that nonsense. That brought down any protests Thor might have had. Loki started layering a complex but durable warming spell around Thor until he was sure his brother wouldn’t freeze his golden nose off.

While Thor might not have kept Anton a secret, the golden prince and he hadn’t had the best of relationships especially after they had lost Anton all those centuries ago. Thor would hang around the warriors three and lady Sif and Loki buried his nose in books about magic. The thought that Thor usually had done nothing to stop his so called friends from making fun of Loki still stung and he wasn’t prepared to just let it all go as if nothing ever happened just because they had their friend back.

A familiar, soothing voice broke through Lokis memories and he tried to pay attention to what Anton had planned next. Loki got stuck watching the fascinating golden swirls of magic in Antons warm eyes though. He wondered if they had always been so incredibly beautiful. Realizing the path his thoughts had taken Loki quickly shook his head. No, no way would he fantasize about his friend. Nothing would come of it so he should just stop even thinking about how those brown orbs might look at him, full of adoration and maybe even love. No, not even going there, Loki bit his tongue and focussed on Antons words instead.

„… say we turn back where we came from, then about half an hour later we should get to Nyuks village. There we can gather ourselves, plan on how we’re going to approach Laufey and get some rest. The walk up the mountain won’t be fun. We should cover ourselves so the villagers won’t be alarmed by aesir coming into their midst. Although, since it is going to be dark once we get there we shouldn’t be easily recognized anyways.“

The ease with which Anton was planning their next steps was fascinating. It seemed as if he was born to do this, to lead, to strategize, to show the way, no matter how unusual the situation. Loki admired the strength and confidence the older god radiated.

„So? What do you say, Lokes?“ Loki must’ve spaced out a bit since everyone looked at him expectantly.

He cleared his throat, not used to the cold , dry air and answered: „Yeah, sure. Sounds like a good idea, Anton. It won’t hurt to get some rest before we face our task here.“

Looking satisfied with his answer, Anton turned back the way they had come from and started walking.

„Good! If that’s settled, let’s go. We want to get to the village as soon as possible. The nights on Jotunheim are as cold as Peppers eyes when I’ve missed another business meeting I promised to attend.“, Tony visibly shuddered, „I know a great place where we can stay the night. Nyuk, does Ismir still own the tavern? That geezer still owes me a favor.“


	10. The tavern

When they arrived in Nyuks village, Tony had told the Jotun about Thors involvement in the attack on their realm. While Nyuk couldn’t understand how someone raised to become a king could be so foolish, he accepted Thors apology and hoped Laufey-king would as well. He knew Anton wouldn’t betray their realm, his friends, not even to protect the blonde prince.

He had told him about being found out and banished and Tony had to admit it felt great to meet his old friend once again. They spent the walk reminiscing about old times. Like the time they went on a hunting trip and fell into the local hot springs, which Tony had enjoyed way more than Nyuk. Or the time Nyuk’s sister found herself getting stalked by this creepy old Jotun and they had made his life miserable with idiotic pranks and mischievous tricks until the guy stopped. They thought he even left the village since they hadn’t seen the guy afterwards ever again.

Loki quietly followed the Jotun and Anton. He listened to their stories and while he found some quite amusing, he didn’t like the fact that Anton had lived this weird parallel life and didn’t tell them about it. He understood it wasn’t exactly legal and Loki wasn’t sure he would’ve approved of Antons doings but he would’ve never told on him. It would’ve just been nice to know. And if there was a little pang of jealousy there, when they laughed about a mischievous ruse that worked out perfectly- well, that wasn’t surprising, okay. After all mischief was definitely his domain.

Tony led them to the second house right next to the main street. The buildings in the village weren’t as pompous or as over the top as most homes in Asgard but they also weren’t the small ice constructs Tony had had expected on his first visit there. Despite the harsh climate conditions there were forests on Jotunheim. There was also a sufficient supply of metals and minerals below the ice covering most of the planets surface. The Jotnar that lived in this area, the south of Jotunheim, preferred to build their homes out of stone and wood.

The tavern they were standing in front of was also built on stone foundations. Fragile plants made of ice grew along the walls and reflected the last sun beams, giving the tavern a magical feeling that was only strengthened by the rustic looking wooden beams supporting its roof. 

There was a gentle orange glimmer escaping from the window above the tavern sign. „Hey! Ismir! Get down here, old man!“

Tony’s shout must’ve reached someones ears since they could see a shadow moving behind the curtain. There was a minute of silence, broken by the creaking noise of the opening wooden front door.

Warm light from inside flooded the area the group was standing in and a gruff looking old man poked his head out of the doorframe.

Ismir had visibly aged in Tonys absence. His defined jaw was covered with a greying beard and the near-white family lines curling over his face were disrupted by wrinkles. Ismirs red eyes still showed the intelligence and cunning Tony knew the Jotun possessed and wielded like a sword.

„Who are you? Huh? I don’t need kids calling me out in the middle of the night. Get off my lawn and leave me alone, you buggers.“, growled the old Jotun.

Tony stopped Ismir from turning back inside by drawing back his hood and objected: „Don’t even recognize a friend, old man? I didn’t think your age would take that much of a toll on you.“

Ismirs eyes widened with recognition. After all these years he didn’t expect to see the stray Aesir again that had wormed his way into his heart all those years ago. They had bonded through long nights filled with board games and booze, clever quips and an overall similar worldview.

„Anton? Is that you, old friend? Where have you been?“, the old frost giant let out a hearty laugh, „It’s been real quiet here without you, my friend. Nyuk never came close to your genius in Hnefatafl!“

Loki used the opportunity of their catching up to study the old Jotun. The near-white marks on his body truly differed from Lokis own. His skin also resembled a much lighter shade of blue, more like a summers day on Asgard. The god thought about his own appearance and had to suppress a visible shudder. Even if Anton had accepted him for who he is, he still had problems fighting against the prejudices instilled in him from a young age.

„Would you mind sparing us a few beds this evening, Ismir? We have been walking quite a bit and would like to rest before deciding on what to do next.“, after watching Ismir eye the asgardian princes suspiciously Tony added: „And if me asking politely isn’t enough, may I remind you of that time you bet me I couldn’t outdrink you? You owe me, old man.“

The Jotun turned his nose. „Yeah, yeah, fine. Go ahead, you know where the guest rooms are. But Anton, you’ll have to leave tomorrow. You know I like you, but the current situation is a bit tense and I can’t afford to get in trouble with Laufey. My daughter’s pregnant and I’d really like to meet my grandchildren.“ He moved to the side to let the group of wanderers inside.

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No one saw the black shadow moving in the window of a neighboring house. No one heard the hushed voice whispering about foreigners while frantically writing a letter. No one felt the small spark of magic that sent said letter right into Laufeys lap. And no one would be prepared for what followed.

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Exhausted from the conversation with SHIELD, from traveling between realms and their hour-long walk to Nyuks village the group quickly dissolved and parted into different rooms. They had said their goodbyes to Nyuk earlier. Since the Jotun had his own home to return to he wasn’t exactly keen on staying at the tavern.

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Thor had fallen into bed, feeling more tired than he ever felt before. Being mortal was a hassle and he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy. He was still cursing out his current predicament, mainly to stop thinking about him being beaten by a Jotun with a stick, when darkness overwhelmed him and he passed out.

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Loki had way too many thoughts running through his head to think about sleep. Finding out about what really happened when he was stolen away by Odin, travelling to the realm where all of this had started and his weird new feelings where Anton was concerned. There was so much to think about so he had already come to terms with finding no sleep tonight.

He was pacing in his room mumbling about his past when something moved to his right. He turned just in time to see a small, velvet blue ball of swirling magic shoot right at him.

Loki, being the magic genius he was, swiftly put up a wall to deter the sudden attack. He was just heading towards the door to warn Anton of the threat when a second ball hit him from the side and two robed Jotnar entered his room. A cold tingle expanded from his hip, where the magic had hit him. His limbs started to feel heavy and he could hardly keep his eyes open. The world seemed to loose color and slowly faded to black. „Anton, no..“, he whispered into the dark before his consciousness left him.

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Tony decided this was the best day he had had in a long time. He finally got his magic back after being reunited with his closest friends and now he was even able to visit his friends on Jotunheim. If he didn’t consider the possibility of an upcoming war, this seemed too good to be true.

The aesir slumped down on the rustic looking bed and stared at the ceiling. He remembered something he had wanted to try for quite some time now. He concentrated on the familiar feeling of a calming presence, a soothing British voice and the joy he had felt when his AI got activated for the first time.

**JARVIS, are you there?**

Tony anxiously waited on a reply. Retaining a connection with JARVIS across the realms would be incredibly helpful for literally any and all future travels. And now that he had his magic back Tony would be damned if he didn‘t travel through the realms once again as he had done before, so long ago.

_Sir, may I be of assistance?_

Tony started grinning. It worked. No matter where he might go, he would never be alone again. He’d never have to relive the feeling of loneliness and pain that he had all those centuries ago when he had arrived on earth.

**JARVIS, I’m so glad to hear your voice, buddy. How are things at home? We just arrived in Nyuks village on Jotunheim and we’re staying at a friends place.**

_Miss Potts has inquired about your absence. I told her you were on a business trip regarding a new idea of yours. While she still seems to doubt my words she accepted it for now. Please be careful, Sir, I cannot help protect you._

Tony could hear the worry in his Als voice. He truly was so much more than just his programming.

**No need to worry, J. I’ve got my magic back and I’m not alone. We’ll take care of each other. Please tell DUM-E and the bots that I’ll be home soon. Don’t let them do something stupid, like throw me a welcome home party, though. You know that would only end in them breaking stuff.**

There was a creaking noise like someone opening an old door that desperately needs some oil and then a dull thump that grabbed Tonys attention. He shot up, high alert, and reached for the comforting pull of his magic.

As quietly as he could Tony snuck out of his bed and towards the door. He kept to the side so should the door open he would be hidden behind it. He held his breath and listened closely for any kind of noise.

_Sir, I feel your distress. Is everything al-_

**Not now, JARVIS. There’s someone here.**

The heavy, old door spun wide open and two robed figures entered. They were visibly startled when they didn’t find who they were apparently looking for.

Tony used their surprise to his advantage and hit the first one with a sleeping spell. The second person - Jotun, Tony noted - retaliated with a spell of his own. Barely escaping the hit, Tony side-stepped the sleeping attacker to get closer to the exit.

When the Jotun mage threw another spell at him, he was able to reflect it back to its owner, who promptly sacked down. Probably another sleeping spell then.

He wondered why those Jotnar wanted them alive and for what, while he ran towards Lokis chamber. Not wholly unexpected Tony found it vacant. His head full of worry he failed to notice the third Jotun that had been able to sneak up on him.

A quickly mumbled spell later, Tony felt his world shift and his body hit the floor.

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Downstairs in the tavern there was the old owner, Ismir. Chained to his chair and gagged so he couldn’t warn his friend.

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In the neighboring house there was a shadow peering out the window, curiously watching the commotion his letter had caused.

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A few houses away, there was Nyuk, telling his loving wife the story of how he beat the asgardian prince with a stick, unaware of what was happening at the tavern.


End file.
